Aberdeen late show stuns Motherwell

23 September 2012 05:21

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Josh Magennis scored deep in injury time to earn Aberdeen a point against Motherwell in a highly-entertaining 3-3 draw.

Gavin Rae netted Aberdeen's first goal at Pittodrie this season after six minutes before the in-form Michael Higdon equalised for the Steelmen from close range after 42 minutes. Defender Shaun Hutchinson headed Well in front three minutes after the break before Nicky Law looked to have ensured victory with eight minutes remaining.

However Dons substitute Niall McGinn headed home two minutes later to set up a rousing finish with Northern Irishman Magennis netting the equaliser to deny Motherwell a three-point lead at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table.

Russell Anderson kept his place in the Aberdeen defence after successfully appealing the red card he was shown against Inverness as Craig Brown stuck with the same XI that started in last weekend's 1-1 draw.

Motherwell made only one change from the side that came from behind to beat Dundee 2-1 with Estonian attacker Henrik Ojamaa preferred to Jamie Murphy, who had to settle for a place on the bench.

Six minutes into the encounter Ryan Fraser and Stephen Hughes combined for a quick corner and found the unmarked Jonny Hayes on the edge of the box. The Irishman initially slipped before regaining his composure to float the ball onto the head of Rae, whose deft flick nestled into the corner of the net.

But Motherwell started to put pressure on and their equaliser arrived three minutes before the break when the Dons defence failed to deal with a Steven Hammell free-kick and, although Langfield managed to initially thwart Kerr's close-range effort, he was helpless to prevent Higdon turning the ball into the unguarded net for his seventh goal in four games.

And the visitors were in front within three minutes of the restart when Hutchinson rose highest to head home a Hateley corner to the delight of the visiting support.

Aberdeen threw on McGinn and Isaac Osbourne for Scott Vernon and Rae after 63 minutes as they looked to get back on level terms but it was the visitors who looked the more dangerous with Chris Humphrey skipping past two defenders before seeing his eventual shot deflected kindly into the arms of Langfield.

Well notched a third after 82 minutes, again courtesy of a Hateley corner which was flicked on by Kerr to Law who forced the ball over the line. However, the Dons set up a dramatic finish when substitute McGinn headed home from a Fraser cross two minutes later and the comeback was complete when Magennis turned home an Andrew Considine shot deep into injury time.